Local advocate asks Jefferson City to pursue Arabia Steamboat Museum as 2026 bicentennial project

Bob Priddy, a Jefferson City resident, told the City Council the city should make a firm commitment to try to host the Arabia Steamboat Museum collection and related exhibits ahead of the state capital’s 200th anniversary in 2026.

Priddy said the museum’s current lease in Kansas City runs out in August 2026 and that Pittsburgh and St. Charles have active proposals to receive the collection. He said the National Steamboat Museum, a 501(c)(3), would ultimately own the collection and could move it where it receives funding and local support. "We just don't have a lot of time," Priddy said, adding that a serious local effort could buy time and attention for the project.

Why it matters: Priddy framed the museum as a cultural and economic catalyst tied to Jefferson City’s bicentennial as Missouri’s capital in 2026. He said a museum here could create academic partnerships with nearby colleges, increase tourism and help redevelop underused properties near the penitentiary or Miner's Hill.

Priddy described prior planning work and a Marshall-area feasibility study he said showed a comparable project could work in Jefferson City. He provided specific cost estimates he said stakeholders have discussed: about $5 million to excavate and recover a buried steamboat component (the speaker described that scale of excavation), $15 million referenced as a possible purchase price for the entire collection, and an example development estimate of roughly $35 million for an 8-acre site cited from the Marshall study. He also said the current museum in Kansas City draws about 60,000–80,000 visitors a year while local visitor numbers for comparable sites are lower now.

Priddy urged the council to go beyond a ceremonial resolution and to explore concrete options — city, state and private financing tools, tax credits, bonds or TIFs — as well as possible sites including acreage near the state penitentiary. He said he has talked with museum representatives, the State Historical Society in Columbia and economic-development officials and offered to help arrange site visits.

Councilwoman Young asked about the timing; Priddy replied that the collection holders and the nonprofit need commitments quickly but that some additional time could be obtained if the city acted decisively. Council members asked clarifying questions about prior negotiations, excavation logistics and visitor projections.

Priddy also described statewide context: past legislative efforts to reallocate some casino admission fee revenue toward museums were narrowed this year, he said, and most of the revised proposals would direct the additional fee revenue to veterans' homes. He said that makes local, state and private partnerships more important to keep the collection in Missouri.

The presentation closed with Priddy offering to help organize visits to the current museum and to meet with state economic-development staff and other stakeholders.